Ray Taylor

The year 2013 was a significant one for Puma Energy. The global integrated mid- and downstream oil business acquired three major companies in Australia —Neumann Petroleum, Ausfuel, and Queensland’’s Central Combined Group— and became a recognisable brand Down Under. It then further cemented its Queensland position when it acquired another family-run business, Malpass Enterprises, in Townsville in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Puma Energy was formed in Central America in 1997 and is headquartered in Singapore, with regional hubs in Johannesburg, Brisbane, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Tallinn (Estonia). It is active in more than 40 countries around the world and is consistently growing and diversifying. Its major shareholder is the commodity-trading multinational company Trafigura, whose operations include the supply, storage, and transportation of petroleum products, which naturally complement the operations of Puma Energy.

Puma Energy’s activities are underpinned by investment in infrastructure which optimises supply-chain systems, capturing value as both asset-owners and marketers of product. It is involved in distribution, retail sales, and wholesale of a wide range of refined products, with additional product offerings in the lubricants, bitumen, LPG, and marine bunkering sectors. There are currently 300 retail stores in Australia, and that number is set to double as expansion and further acquisitions become inevitable in the near future.

General Manager of Puma Energy Australia Ray Taylor was appointed to the position in 2011 and has an extensive background in the oil industry. He started his career as a trainee graduate with BP and worked in a variety of capacities including refining, supply and trading, logistics, and sales and marketing over a 27-year period. ““In hindsight, looking at my involvement in the graduate program, it was a wonderful way to get into the industry because over three years we were given three real roles in different areas,” Ray says.”